This paper presents data on Medicaid spending during the years leading up to the implementation of the Affordable Care Act (ACA). It uses administrative data to first examine overall spending trends and trends by service type. We then draw on additional data to analyze per enrollee spending growth during this period, both by service type and by eligibility group, to understand what drove Medicaid spending.

This Visualizing Health Policy infographic provides an overview of Medicare spending, including information on current federal spending relative to other government programs (e.g., Social Security) and percent-share of spending across Medicare services, as well as projected Medicare spending over the next decade and beyond. Recent federal spending on Medicare is…

This Visualizing Health Policy infographic with the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) provides an overview of Medicare spending trends in the present, short term and long term. In the long term, Medicare spending as a share of the economy is projected to grow, and Medicare is projected to lack sufficient funds to pay all hospital bills beginning in 2030.

Most Americans in prime working age who aren’t currently employed hope to return to work in the future, though family responsibilities, health issues and a lack of good jobs pose significant challenges, finds a new survey conducted by the Kaiser Family Foundation, The New York Times and CBS News. Rather than…

To help shed light on recent trends in the U.S. employment market, the Kaiser Family Foundation partnered with the New York Times and CBS News to conduct a survey of adults between the ages of 25-54 (generally considered to be prime working age) who are not currently employed. Rather than focusing only on those who meet the official government definition of unemployment, this survey takes a broad look at all prime-age adults who are not working, regardless of their desire for work or job-seeking activities. While the official U.S. unemployment rate has declined since the start of the recession in late 2007, the total share of adults who are not employed has risen in recent years. This survey examines the views and experiences of this broad group of prime-age workers who are not employed, including how they get by financially, the factors to which they attribute their lack of employment, what it would take to get them working, and – for those who used to work – how being out of work has changed their lives.

Insurance coverage has rebounded since the end of the Great Recession, mostly because of increases in Medicaid coverage. Employer coverage stabilized after the recession, but mostly because of policies allowing young adults to stay on parents’ coverage. For other age groups, employer coverage rates are still falling. Ongoing shifts in employment status, industry type, income, demographics, and region have affected changes in coverage nationally.